The present invention relates to a cleaning article, a method of making a cleaning article, and a method of using a cleaning article. Particularly, the present invention relates to a cleaning article with abrasive particles releasably secured to the cleaning article by a water-soluble binder, a method of making a cleaning article, and a method of cleaning a surface with a cleaning article.
During cleaning, the surface may include built-up dirt, debris, or mineral deposits, which require more than a detergent for removal. Therefore, it may be necessary to use a cleaning article that has scouring capabilities. The scouring capabilities may come from the substrate itself that is being used as the cleaning article, or the souring capabilities may come from abrasive materials added to the substrate. Providing a cleaning article, which itself has scouring capabilities, with an abrasive material enhances the scouring effect of the cleaning article.
A cleaning article may be provided with abrasive particles by pouring an abrasive solution, such as Soft Scrub® available from The Dial Corporation of Scottsdale, Ariz., onto a substrate. However, this requires both a substrate and a separate scouring solution, which can be inconvenient and messy. Further, the scouring solution is often chemically harsh, and therefore may not be as safe for the user to handle and store. Also, this approach typically does not involve disposable substrates, and so the substrate must be handled and cleaned following use. Reuse of the substrate may be undesirable in heavily soiled or contaminated cleaning areas.
Another way of providing abrasive particles to the cleaning article is to mechanically adhere the particles to a substrate through use of a separate adhesive or binder layer. There are disadvantages of both soft and hard binders. If the binder layer is too soft, then it is difficult to get enough fracture to expose the abrasive particles. Then, the scouring ability of the abrasive particle is not fully utilized. If the binder layer is too hard, then the substrate is more rigid and stiff for the user to handle. A hard binder is more brittle and therefore allows for fracture to expose the abrasive particles. However, the particles are so rigidly attached that scratching is more likely to occur.
Binders typically do not allow for the release of the abrasive particles. Mechanically adhered particles are more likely to cause scratching on a surface. The particles are rigidly attached to the substrate and when the substrate is slid across the surface, the particle drags along the surface as well. If the particle is not released and allowed to tumble, scratching is likely to occur and will effect the texture of the surface being cleaned.
The additional binder layer adds additional costs in making the substrate because additional materials and processing steps are necessary. These additional costs results in the cleaning article product costing more, and therefore not intended for single use.
Repeatably using a cleaning product may be undesirable for certain cleaning situations. Some cleaning environments, such as toilets, showers, and sinks may have a high concentration of dirt, debris, stains, or germs. In such cleaning environments it is desirable to use an abrasive cleaning article because of mineral deposits and stains. However, in order to reuse the cleaning article in such environments, the cleaning article itself must be sanitized. The additional step of sanitizing the cleaning article adds additional time and cost to the cleaning process. Therefore, in some situations, it is desirable that the abrasive cleaning article is disposable.